Curious City

Like millions of black Southerners during the Great Migration, they sought greater freedom and opportunity. They found it in the blues.

Community activists and a university representative reflect on why the relationship has been difficult in the past and where it stands now.

Here’s who and what to blame if you spill your coffee on your commute.

Demographic shifts, changes in attitudes towards public drinking and the politics of the Daley family led to the shuttering of many Chicago bars.

It takes a lot of information and a lot of patience, but here’s what you need to know to get reimbursed from the city.

Bruce Graham and Fazlur Khan changed the way architects and engineers thought about the structure of the modern skyscraper.

Part I of our CliffsNotes guide to Chicago music history included jazz, folk, Latin, and gospel. Here, we present four more genres.

A former CPS student wishes kids learned more about Chicago’s rich music history. So here’s a CliffsNotes music guide. Happy listening!

Northwest Indiana resident Beth Braun wants to know whether lead emissions from the nearby steel mill are landing in her backyard.

Did you know you can’t perform in a window or dye a baby chick? We feature nine of Chicago’s most obscure laws.

Election judges don’t usually count votes for cartoon mice or celebrities, but there was one exception. We took a peek.

One Chicagoan wants to know what people who moved to Chicago love about the city. From fireflies to marathons, here’s what they have to say.

The Dill Pickle wasn’t just any old 1920s nightclub. It opened its doors to queer Chicagoans and other marginalized groups.

The story of one Chicago grocery store tycoon’s dream for jazz music, movie stars, and bygone glamour.

From boycotts to hashtags, Curious City traces the history of a 150-year-old message urging the black community to support black businesses.

Curious City spends a night at The Warehouse club through the memories of teens who danced there in the 1980s.

WBEZ’s Tony Sarabia talks with people who came out later in life about how that affected their closest relationships.

A recent episode from VPR’s podcast for curious kids features reporting from Curious City about what happens after you flush the toilet.

The city's top recipe sleuths share their secrets as we recreate a divine, but elusive, fried chicken dish.

Hint: If you want a Chicago street named after you, it helps to know a real estate developer — or be married to one!  

Candidates need to gather and then defend stacks of petition signatures. We break down who this helps and hurts.

Sure, they pass laws and vote on city budgets. But there’s so much more. Think: Pregnancy tests and pigeon poo.

The CTA consults lots of sources to decide how to pronounce street names. Take our quiz to find out how your pronunciations match up.

The Ike was the city’s first superhighway.  In this special presentation, people affected open up about how it scattered ethnic neighborhoods and changed many lives forever.

The beef sandwich and slushy drink are sold together all across the South and West sides. We track down the guy who put the two together.